Week One - part one

The first week of the new year has passed by very quickly. I spent most of my time cleaning and trying to organize my piles. These are creative piles of photos, thread, stitching, designing ... etc. things I want close at hand and only seem to miss when I clean up and put away. The piles are located in various locations throughout my house .... on the dining room table, small pile on the kitchen table, the piano .... etc., etc., you get the picture ....

I spent an evening printing off some of the many downloads clogging up my files, deleted, then filed them away in binders. Hope I can find the time to do some of the projects!

I am including a photo of my New Year's eve snack. I was feeling rather decadent and creative at the same time. I chopped up sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and drizzled over a small chunk of brie. I gave it a zap in the microwave and then adorned the plate with half of a sliced apple. Top it all off with a nice glass of wine and Bob's your Uncle ...... (or in this case he is my Uncle, lol).

Yesterday I enjoyed visiting with friends at the ANA (Arrowsmtih Needlearts) guild all-day stitch-in. This event takes place monthly in Qualicum Beach. The group also holds a half-day stitch-in and of course the monthly meeting. After the meeting I accompanied two stitching friends down to another meeting .... this time in Victoria. It's an hour and a half drive from Nanaimo .... maybe two hours from Qualicum. EGV (Embroiderers Guild of Victoria) have two meetings a month, one in the evening and another two weeks later during the day. There was a wonderful speaker on antique tools. She had a nice selection of implements and had great anecdotes to go with some of the pieces .... it was very interesting and made me want to run out to my nearest antique store and see what they have to offer. I will have to do some online googling to research some of the items she showed. One I will mention was called a "Nanny Pin". It's a metal pin worn at the throat and it hides a little sewing kit. There was a needle and black and white thread.

I finally started my first hexagon for my Quaker quilt. The motif has two little birds perched on a flowerpot, within a geometric pattern. I am stitching over one using Gloriana's Elizabethan Green.